Peacebuilding UK has received 12 months funding from the Open Society Institute to continue supporting the work of the Human Rights Centre project in Grozny, Chechnya. This project was launched in November 2006 and employs three lawyers. Its main activities include legal counselling and filing cases before the European Court of Human Rights. The legal system in Russia is relatively well-developed, however corruption in the judicial system sometimes leaves people without the possibility to achieve tangible results in seeking justice at the domestic level. Therefore in many cases, lodging a complaint before the European Court of Human Rights is the only effective remedy that people can rely upon. Applying to the European Court should be considered as a last resort for solving problems, as this procedure is highly complicated and very lengthy. Over 90% of applications submitted to the Court by Russian citizens are declared inadmissible, i.e. the cases are not considered on merits due to procedural issues.
At the beginning of the project in Chechnya many potential cases for the European Court were related to criminal cases against alleged combatants in the context of the conflict between Russia and Chechnya. Nowadays, most potential cases are related to abductions, general fair trial issues and housing. Legal counselling offered by project lawyers is crucial, since it helps to manage clients’ expectations and avoid mistakes in the exhaustion of domestic remedies for further potential applications to the European Court.